Résumé gap: With more than 20,000 units, the CHA is the largest housing authority Mr. Jordan has managed.

Track record: Raised the overall effectiveness rating  given by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development  of the Rockford Housing Authority to 86 from 68 (out of 100) in a four-year period.

Job one: Completing the CHA's $1.6-billion "Plan for Transformation," which calls for tearing down CHA high-rises and replacing some with mixed-income communities by 2015.

Obstacles: Getting the job done on time and on budget and meeting high expectations. The plan is already five years behind schedule, a delay the CHA has partly blamed on funding cuts. Mr. Jordan "came in with a great reputation," says Kathy Clark, executive director of the Chicago-based Lawyers' Committee for Better Housing.

The plan: Meet with CHA residents, work with HUD and establish or enhance processes to help the CHA run efficiently. "The world's watching, and I accept the challenge," Mr. Jordan says.

Jordan Co. L.P., New York: Mark Emery, 50, to president of the U.S. operations management group, in Chicago, from president and CEO at Northstar Aerospace Inc.

INFO TECHNOLOGY

Gladson Interactive Inc., Lisle: Mark A. Shapiro, 52, to president and CEO, from partner and member of the consumer packaged goods, food-service and over-the-counter pharmaceutical global practice teams at New England Consulting Group.

USRobotics, Schaumburg: Bruce D. Swail, 49, to CEO, from division vice-president and general manager of the digital multimedia division at Flextronics Inc.